A small pub just off Piccadilly Circus in Soho, apparently a free house, and having had a recent change of management around the start of 2012.

This is an odd little site, squeezed in between a theatre and a curry house, and opposite another pub. Inside it's long and thin, with two floors. Three or four small two-person tables fit in between pillars to the rear of the ground floor. The decor, however, still harks back to an older era of pubs, with frosted glass and wooden fittings.

Five handpulls at the bar dispense London Pride and Hog's Back Winter Ale on a February 2012 visit, and Pride, Sambrook's Wandle, Butcombe Bitter and Dark Star Hophead (£3.40/pint) in April 2012. Keg beers include Litovel and Brooklyn Lager. Pleasantly, they have a decent range of bottled beers, with a handful of American (Goose Island), Australian (Coopers) and Mexican beers (Negra Modelo) amongst the usual suspects. A recent change of ownership has promised more local beers.

There's more room upstairs through a separate entrance from the street, with bigger tables and enough seating for about 30, including a few stools along the small bar photo. The upstairs bar only has four draught keg taps, but the staff were happy to get anything from downstairs and bring it to our tables on our April 2012 visit. On a Friday night there was still space early in the evening but filling up by 6:30pm, lively but not overly crammed as so many places in central London tend to get. Music was playing, but quietly.

Food is provided courtesy of the Bell and Brisket, who dispense excellent salt beef sandwiches with a variety of options (mustards, pickles, chips on the side, et al.), coming in at around £7.50 for rye bread (only £5 for a very well-stuffed bagel). Ewan tried one with chips and pickles (£10 meal deal) and it was a fine well-packed sandwich with sliced gherkins and plenty of chips.